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Since Madden 13 is oh so very proud of their fictional Twitter feed I have decided to do my review as a fictional Twitter feed between EA and gamers:
EAsports: New Madden is out and it is the best thing in history! What do you think? #BetterTheDayYourChildWasBorn
AGamer: Hey I'm having trouble finding Franchise Mode. Where is it?
EASports: Gone Bro!
AGamer: What do you mean gone? It was the only thing that didn't suck.
EASports: We have innovated and replaced it with Connected Careers! Like a boss! #ConnectedCareersBetterThanSex
AGamer: WTH is Connected Careers?
EASports: It is like Superstar and Franchise mode combined! Now you can be either player or a coach! Like a boss! #JesusWouldDoConnectedCareers
AGamer: Couldn't we always do that?
EASports: Yeah but not like on Connected Careers now you can go online and compete with friends! Like a boss! #INeedACigaretteAfterConnectedCareers
AGamer: You mean like the online play we've had the last 4 years? What evs I'll check it out.
AGamer: Dude, I'm doing the Coach in Connected Careers and can't change schemes or customize my playbook. What gives?
EASports: Did you see the fictional Twitter feed! Skip Bayless in the house!
AGamer: Yeah thats cool and all but we've been able to customize schemes and plays in Madden since the late 90s. WTH?
EASports: Check out the physics on the Infinity Engine. Gang tackles like a boss! #ILoveMaddenMoreThanMyFamily
AGamer: Infinity Engine? Is that why my players keep flying through the air like a grenade went off?
AGamer: And staggering around like their drunk and tripping over people?
AGamer: Dude, why does my running back keep running into the back of people and falling over? Did he just get off the Gravitron at a state fair?
EASports: Physics! Like a boss! #IWillStabYouForACopyOfMadden
AGamer: It isn't remotely realistic! People are tripping over each other after plays and flying all over the place like someone hit them with a car!
EASports: Feel the realism! #WhoNeedsFriendsWhenYouHaveMadden
AGamer: What is up with the announcing? Are they in the same game? I'm up 28 3 and every time I get a first down they say it is my first one of the game.
EASports: Phil Sims in the house!Like a boss!
AGamer: Why do you keep saying 'like a boss' #Toolbag
EASports: Cause I'm sooooo excited about all the innovation in Madden!!! #WeDeserveANobelPrize
AGamer: Excited about the innovation? You took away a lot of our control and customization in Franchise Mode and renamed it Connected Careers.
AGamer: You gave us a physics engine that makes the players flop around like Muppet's inside of a dryer.
AGamer: The announcing is no better than it was 8 years and a whole generation of systems ago.
AGamer: Superstar mode has also been replaced by Connected Careers and while the gameplay is solid there is nothing personal to connect you with your player.
AGamer: I want to see my player get interviewed and see him get accolades. I want to see him get endorsements.
AGamer: I want to see celebrations at his accomplishments like what you saw in the NBA 2k series.
AGamer: I get none of that in Madden 13. You have just given me a game with player lock and nothing else.
EASports: Did you see the Twitter feed? #SkipBaylessOwnsTwitter
AGamer: Yeah I saw the Twitter feed but nothing else.
AGamer: This is what you call innovation?
EASports: Like a boss!!
AGamer: Whatever EA. Whatever.
2KSports: Ashamed there is no competition out there isn't it.
NFL: @2KSports Shhhhh. We're trying to count our money.
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As a longtime Madden player (have played/owned every iteration since 99), this year's version of Madden is perhaps the most over-hyped one since the move to the current gen of consoles. After years of gamers complaining about the lack of innovation between the yearly releases of Madden, EA finally took a swing at things for the better. Unfortunately, even with the new Infinity Engine and Connected Careers Mode the exclusion of a full fledged Franchise Mode from years past is sadly game breaking for this gamer.Pros:
1. The Infinity Engine is a solid step forward for the franchise, and should only get better as the series evolves in this direction. This is the best part of Madden 13, and can only be truly appreciated once you play it. Comparing the gameplay engines from Madden 12 or even NCAA 13 is almost a night and day difference.
2. The gameplay itself is probably the best its been since Madden's been on the current consoles. Multi-player matches (co-op and online) in particular should be the best its been in this generation. Past annoyances like Psychic DBs, eternal pockets for QBs, or impossible across the body off balance throws are out or at least toned down.
3. For as much as I dislike it, Combined Careers did well in including the different ratings for players depending on scheme. The Twitter/Social dashboard is at least interesting, if a bit clunky.
4. Trade logic within CCM seems to be harder, a positive in my book since it takes out trading a FA you just signed for a first round pick.
Cons:
1. Well, as the rest of my Amazon reviewers have noted Franchise mode as we have come to know and love got the boot. The new mode, Combined Careers, is a combination of past year's Superstar and Franchise modes. Unfortunately, Coach mode (which is supposed to be the evolved Franchise mode) is sadly lacking.
2. Lack of editing players/rosters: no longer can you edit player numbers, ratings, or really even have that much control of your roster. For example, in my current CCM I have 3 players with the number 82 in the wide receiver position, a minor annoyance that the user cannot address since editing is completely gone. The inability to change ratings makes a bit of sense(so no one can just turn anyone into a 99 overall rating) if Progression actually worked. Unfortunately, I had a rookie LB win both Rookie of the Year and Defensive MVP...and lost rating (78 to 77). Finally, you no longer edit player positions and thus are stuck with whatever EA classifies the player as. Want to turn Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis back to DE's for the return of your new 4-3 Colts defense (in 13 they are 3-4 mirroring the real life switch)? Good luck, you can't.
3. Lack of a Fantasy draft not a big one for me, but I know at least two of my friends refuse to buy this simply because of this being left out of 13.
4. Lack of a co-op Franchise unless you and your friends are willing to shell out $60 per person (plus XBOXs/Live subscriptions) you can no longer have your friend play within your franchise. As it is, I can play/compete with my friends/roommates on one console in Madden 12 or NCAA 13 but not in Madden 13.
5. Inability to import NCAA13 draft classes not a surprise to anyone following the Madden hype train, but disappointing none the less.
6. Being forced to go online -at the moment of writing this review all the benefits of the CCM are found by choosing the online (always connected to EA servers) option. Online gamers will get tuning updates days to even weeks before offline gamers. Perhaps the biggest hindrance to this would be anyone who has actually had to connect to EA's servers before, they are notoriously buggy and finicky. In my NCAA 13 dynasty I constantly lose connection to the EA servers, a minor annoyance in that game, a game breaking feature in this one. Because of the way online CCM is set up, any time you lose connection to the EA server you lose all progress in whatever you were doing...4th quarter up by 3 as the underdog in the Super Bowl? Tough luck, you are going to have to play that entire game over again.
Conclusion: While the loss of Franchise Mode (and the inability of Coach mode in CCM to replace it) is a serious one in my book, there is some appeal in this game. As it is, people who play Madden for the multiplayer quick games will enjoy this game. People who get Madden for the Franchise play will find it sorely lacking until/if they ever patch it.
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With no franchise or fantasy draft options in either online or offline mode this 59.99 game becomes worthless. Sadly I did not check reviews before buying this. I just trusted that the one feature I have used on every version of madden I have purchased over the years would still be there. It is not. I would return it but I sadly opened the game to play it. So now I have a nice 59.99 coaster. It will be used as such. In that regard the Madden 13 coaster is easily a 3 star rated item due to the hole in the middle and no anti-slip coating.Honest reviews on Madden NFL 13 - Xbox 360
After reading the negative reviews, I thought I could still get past it all and enjoy the game. Wrong. I do love fantasy draft and editing rosters, not to give 99 ratings but to make some players more realistic. I thought that improved gameplay and more realism would trump the details that are missing this year. The attributes that you can improve are weak, barely make a difference and wasteful too. It just isn't a fun game anymore, and like all football and madden fans, it just makes me sad.The 2k sports games are all so much better than the new Madden. Of course Franchise mode is still there, it only takes 30 seconds and half a brain to figure that out. But, it's just not as fun as previous years, the gameplay itself doesn't feel much better. I tried but just couldn't stick with it. Don't waste your money. Go with Fifa or any 2k sports game, even the Top Spin game is better than this.
STAY AWAY
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Madden NFL 13 - Xbox 360
Fans of the Madden franchise have taken the good with the bad for years now. Like many, I've dutifully forked out my $60 each year to get the newest version of the game. Each year there are drawbacks (middle linebackers that can leap and intercept every pass over the middle, players being sucked into tackles, receivers that try much less than the defensive backs to catch a ball, the fact that you will be sacked nearly every time you try a play action pass the list goes on and on) and each year EA addresses an issue or two (whether they actually fix them or not), updates the rosters, and convinces us to spend another $60 for the newest edition. Even with the drawbacks, for those of us who love Madden, we start our franchise mode, use the fantasy draft to assemble a team that can overcome the shortcomings of this year's game and beat the competition, and import our draft classes from EA's corresponding annual release of the NCAA Football game. I am one of those players who not only enjoys all of that, but continues playing the same team I've built from the ground up for multiple seasons at a stretch.This year?
No franchise mode.
No fantasy draft.
No importing of draft classes from NCAA Football 13 that many of us dropped an additional $60 on in some cases, primarily so we could import draft classes for multiple seasons of Madden.
To some customers, those omissions may not seem like a big deal. But for many of us, it's like buying a new car and being told what color you will receive, having all of the radio stations preprogrammed and locked in place, and only being allowed to drive the vehicle on certain routes. Does the car work? Sure. Does it drive better than last year's model? It does. Can you roll down the windows, crank up your favorite song, and drive wherever the road may lead you? Not a chance.
For many of us who have faithfully played each and every annual release of Madden for years now, they took everything we love about the game and trashed it. It's not that they kept flawed pieces in place, EA actually took portions of the game we've eagerly looked forward to and embraced for countless years and ripped them out. I've played literally thousands of hours in the Madden series and if you broke that time down between teams I've assembled through fantasy drafts and teams that EA assembled for me (the latter being the only option in Madden NFL 13), I'd guess that ratio is somewhere close to 200:1. I've been playing Madden since the SNES days and while I've had my share of complaints with past editions, Madden NFL 13 was the first time I've ever found myself regretting that I had purchased the latest release.
I'm giving Madden NFL 13 a one star rating not because the game is worthless, but because EA literally ripped out what for many of us was the heart and soul of the game and sold us an empty shell instead. For me, it's no longer "Madden," it's just a football game. It's bad enough that I returned the game shortly after purchasing it, losing a good chunk of money in the process. The omissions, which we've relied on and enjoyed in countless previous versions of Madden, are truly that important to the game.
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